Dr. Erik Holtved ( Greenlandic nickname: ''Erissuaq''; translation: "Big Eric") (21 June 1899 in

Fredericia Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejle. It was founded in 16 ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

– 1981 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

artist, archaeologist, linguist, and ethnologist. He was the first university-trained ethnologist to study the

Inughuit The Inughuit (also spelled Inuhuit), or the Smith Sound Inuit, historically Arctic Highlanders, are Greenlandic Inuit. Formerly known as "Polar Eskimos", they are the northernmost group of Inuit and the northernmost people in North America, livin ...

, the northernmost Greenlandic

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

Career

Holtved was born in Fredericia, Denmark in 1899. An artist early on, in 1931, he was selected by

Knud Rasmussen Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (; 7 June 1879 – 21 December 1933) was a Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer and anthropologist. He has been called the "father of Eskimology" (now often known as Inuit Studies or Greenlandic and Arctic Studies ...

to head the Sixth Thule Expedition to

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...

which changed the course of his life. His field trips to Greenland continued in 1932, 1933, 1934, 1935–1937, and 1946–1947. He received his master's degree (1941) and doctorate (1944) at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

. As an archaeologist, he researched Eskimo archaeology in the

Julianehaab Qaqortoq, formerly Julianehåb, is a city in the Kujalleq municipality in southern Greenland, located near Cape Thorvaldsen. With a population of 3,050 in 2020, it is the most populous town and the municipal capital in southern Greenland and the f ...

district,

Disko Bay Disko Bay ( kl, Qeqertarsuup tunua; da, DiskobugtenChristensen, N.O. & al.Elections in Greenland. ''Arctic Circular'', Vol. 4 (1951), pp. 83–85. Op. cit. "Northern News". ''Arctic'', Vol. 5, No. 1 (Mar 1952), pp. 58–59.) is a large ...

, and

Inglefield Land Inglefield Land is an unglaciated area along the northwestern coast of Greenland. It was named after English explorer Edward Augustus Inglefield. History Inglefield Land is noted for its archaeological sites, which show evidence of occupation by ...

. In 1931, he did work in the Lindenows Fjord area of southern Greenland, excavating 25 houses and unearthing 2,000 artifacts. In the 1930s, he was the first to identify the

Ruin Island Ruin Island is a small island off the coast of the Inglefield Land region of northwest Greenland. In the 1930s, Danish archaeologist Erik Holtved discovered the remains of human habitation on the island. The culture associated with this archae ...

Phase of the

Thule culture The Thule (, , ) or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by the year 1000 and expanded eastward across northern Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people o ...

in northwest

. He excavated the

Comer's Midden Comer's Midden was a 1916 archaeological excavation site near Thule (modern Qaanaaq), north of Mt. Dundas in North Star Bay in northern Greenland.Thule Forum, 2006 It is the find after which the Thule culture was named. The site was first excavat ...

site from 1935 to 1937, and again from 1946 to 1947. He surveyed the Greenland coast from

Humboldt Glacier Humboldt Glacier ( da, Humboldt Gletscher) is one of the major glaciers in northern Greenland. The glacier is named after German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt and is the widest tidewater glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. Geography The Humb ...

Thule Thule ( grc-gre, Θούλη, Thoúlē; la, Thūlē) is the most northerly location mentioned in ancient Greek literature, ancient Greek and Latin literature, Roman literature and cartography. Modern interpretations have included Orkney, Shet ...

. As a linguist, Holtved participated in the study of

Eskimo–Aleut The Eskaleut (), Eskimo–Aleut or Inuit–Yupik–Unangan languages are a language family native to the northern portions of the North American continent and a small part of northeastern Asia. Languages in the family are indigenous to parts of w ...

phonetic notation Phonetic transcription (also known as phonetic script or phonetic notation) is the visual representation of speech sounds (or ''phones'') by means of symbols. The most common type of phonetic transcription uses a phonetic alphabet, such as the I ...

with William Thalbitzer and

Knut Bergsland Knut Bergsland (7 March 1914 – 9 July 1998) was a Norwegian linguist. Working as a professor at the University of Oslo from 1947 to 1981, he did groundbreaking research in Uralic (especially Sami) and Eskaleut languages. Career He was born in Kr ...

. Regarding Eskimo

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...

, he published several scholarly works, including, ''The Eskimo Myth about the Sea-woman'', ''The Eskimo legend of Navaranâq'', ''Myths and tales translated'', and ''The Polar Eskimos: Language and Folklore'' which included song texts. In ''Eskimokunst : Eskimo art'' he surveyed Eskimo art, including items such as dolls,

Tupilaq In Greenlandic Inuit religion, a (, , or in Inuktitut syllabics) was an avenging monster fabricated by a practitioner of witchcraft or shamanism by using various objects such as animal parts (bone, skin, hair, sinew, etc.) and even parts taken ...

s, containers, garments, and maps. Upon Thalbitzer's retirement, Holtved became Professor of

Eskimology Eskimology or Inuitology is a complex of humanities and sciences studying the languages, history, literature, folklore, culture, and ethnology of the speakers of Eskimo–Aleut languages and Inuit, Yupik and Aleut (or Unangam), sometimes collect ...

at the University of Copenhagen.

Later years

He lived for a time at 14 Hauser Plads, Copenhagen, Denmark. After retiring from the university, Holtved painted again. He died in Copenhagen on 24 May 1981.

Partial works

* (1914). ''Archaeological investigations in the Thule district'' * (1900s). ''Mackenzie eskimo ordliste efter Petito'' * (1936). ''The eskimo archaeology of Julianehaab District'' * (1943). ''The Eskimo legend of Navaranâq'' * (1947). ''Eskimokunst: Eskimo art'' * (1951). ''The Polar Eskimos, language and folklore 2, Myths and tales translated'' * (1952). "Remarks on the Polar Eskimo dialect", ''International Journal of American Linguistics'' * (1962). ''Eskimo shamanism'' * (1962). ''Otto Fabricius' Ethnographical works'' * (1963). ''Tornarssuk, an Eskimo Deity'' * (1967). "Contributions to Polar Eskimo ethnography". ''

Meddelelser om Grønland ''Meddelelser om Grønland'' ("''Communications on Greenland''") is a Danish scientific periodical which publishes scientific results from all fields of research on Greenland. It was established by Frederik Johnstrup and published as a single seri ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holtved, Erik 1899 births 1981 deaths Danish artists Danish archaeologists Danish ethnologists Linguists from Denmark People from Fredericia University of Copenhagen alumni Academic staff of the University of Copenhagen Linguists of Eskaleut languages 20th-century archaeologists 20th-century linguists Eskimologists